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Number of files/folders differ

23-Oct-2010, 04:11 AM

Hi,

I'm a new user of BC v.3, so new in this forum as well. I am using the software to synchronize (mirror) my external HDD's with one big internal 2 TB HDD.

On the 2 TB disc I've set up a dedicated folder for each external HDD. All changes (the adding, deleting and changes of files) are made on the external drives. The internal drive is only used as backup data storage.

I use the "Mirror -> Right" to compare the left side (external drive(s)) to the right side (dedicated folders on the 2 TB disc).

The synchronization compares, then makes the required changes on the right side. Everything seems fine, all the foldes looks like they're the same. BUT when I compare the 2 synchronized folders in "Folder -> Properties" in Explorer, it lists a different number of files and folders. If everything is in sync the 2 numbers should match.. right?

I have an idea that it might be some settings in BC v.3 that hasn't been configured properly. I've just run it "out-of-the-box" with the default settings. My guess is (since most of the files are pictures) that it might be hidden thumbs.db files (or maybe hidden system files) being skipped by BC.

Hope you guys have some ideas on how to solve this problem. Any help much appreciated. :-)

There is a Suppress Filters button in the upper right of the Folder Compare (glasses icon with red slash) and a Peek button (far left, near bottom a teal icon with an Eye). If you enable the respective button, do additional files show up in the Preview or Comparison pane?

BC3 also shows the file count of the currently viewable files. If you issue an Expand All command (Edit menu), does that help with the discrepancy in file counts in BC3 and Windows Explorer?

Comment

I'm using "Folder Synchonize" without any filters enabled (*.*). And still the number of files differ between BC and Windows Explorer.

Would it make a difference if I use "Folder Compare" and then "Update")?

Another thing I noticed is: If I delete files on the external HDD (left side) those changes are not mirrored to the backup HDD (right side). Should I use the "Update" function instead to make sure those files will be deleted on the backup HDD?

To sum it up, the result I'm trying to achieve is: Any changes made to the external HDD (added files, different file names/changes, deleted files), should be mirrored/changed on the backup HDD.

Which function (compare/sync?) and settings should I use to accomplish this?

Comment

This is the problem I am having.
I am using this program to compare folder copies I have done to ensure that no files are missed due to windows permissions and other factors that inhibit backing up a full file system.

What I am getting in general is after my copy program copies from the source to the destination the destination in this case has double the files according to windows. I assume that windows has perhaps created thumbnails or some such.

To find out I am using beyond compare.

However beyond compare (run as administrator) only sees the standard expected windows encrypted files it missed from the source. Not any differences in the destination.